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Searching a Database
What's a Database?
A database is an organized collection of information. Most library databases are bibliographic databases. They provide a description of a book, magazine, etc. Periodical databases (sometimes called indexes) provide descriptions of articles that appear in periodicals such as magazines and journals. Most periodical databases cover a defined subject area such as education or medicine. General Indexes are databases that cover many different subject areas. Some periodical databases not only describe an article, but also provide an online copy of the article.
Boolean Operators
Combine words or phrases using the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT. The operators can narrow or broaden a search. The diagrams show graphically how using the AND operator narrows a search, using OR broadens a search, and using NOT excludes material from a search.
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Operator |
Sample search |
The search will find... |
Venn diagram results shaded |
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AND |
georgia and prohibition |
items containing "georgia" and "prohibition." AND narrows a search, resulting in fewer hits. |
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OR |
zimbabwe or rhodesia |
items containing either "Zimbabwe" or "Rhodesia" or both. OR broadens a search, resulting in more hits. |
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NOT* |
mexico not new mexico |
items containing "Mexico" but not "New Mexico." Caution! It's easy to exclude relevant items. |
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*NOTES: Some systems use AND NOT or ANDNOT in place of NOT. While most systems are case insensitive, a few systems, such as Britannica Online, require you to type Boolean operators in upper case.
GIL Basic Keyword Search does not recognize Boolean Operators. You can use Boolean searching in GIL's More Options search.
Truncation or Wildcards
A symbol at the end of a word stem provides for all variants on the word stem. The most commonly used symbol is the asterisk (*), but note that the truncation symbol will vary among databases.
GIL - ?
EBSCO - *
Proquest?
Lexis-Nexis - !
Use the Help function to determine which symbol is used in a database
For example, a search for
educat?
will retrieve:
educate, educating, education,
educational, educator, educators, etc.
Be careful not to truncate too far, or you will retrieve unrelated words!
Internal Truncation
A symbol within a word provides for all possible variants inside a word or word stem. The most commonly used symbol for internal truncation is #. For example, a search for
wom#n will retrieve woman, women
You may use terminal and internal truncation on the same word or word stem.
Many databases do not support internal truncation. Be sure to check the help screens.
Phrase Searching
Some databases, such as GIL, will allow you to indicate phrases by enclosing the phrase in quotes. For example "motion picture"
Be sure to check the help section in the database you are using to see if it supports this function.
Proximity Searching
A few databases allow you to search for a word or phrase within a certain number of words from another word or phrase. For example, advertising w/5 television. This is particularly useful when searching full-text databases.
Be sure to check the help section in the database you are using to see if it supports this function.
For More Information...
Contact a GSU Librarian by email, chat, phone, or by scheduling a session for in-person assistance with searching online resources.
Page updated on: August 25, 2005
